By Sarah Lagrotteria

We went to a potluck dinner in Philadelphia that had all the magical holiday ingredients–roast turkey, chocolate hazelnut crunch cake, a little girl in ruby red sparkle slippers and a big friendly dog named Poe. Our friend Jess made mushroom barley soup and it wasn’t until I was walking home through the snow that I realized I had never made it round to the stove for my own bowl. So I made this one last week and I must say, it was every bit as heavenly as the party. The mushroom flavor is so complex that it’s really a very special soup, not your average veg and grains in a pot. As with most, this soup is even better the next day.

Mushroom Barley Soup
1/4 cup dried porcini mushrooms
1 quart vegetable stock
1 quart mushroom stock (can substitute veg if you can’t find mushroom)
2 tablespoons butter
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 large carrot, thinly sliced into rounds
1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
2 pounds assorted mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup white wine or sherry
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup barley
3 tablespoons heavy cream (optional)

1. Pour hot water over the porcini mushrooms in a heat-proof bowl. Let soften, about 30 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, reserving both the liquid and the softened mushrooms for the soup. Coarsely chop the softened mushrooms.

2. Combine the vegetable and mushroom stocks in a medium pot over medium heat. Let come to a simmer while you prepare the soup. You want to the stocks warm when you add them to the soup pot so the soup doesn’t have to come back to temperature to cook the barley.

3. In a large soup pot over medium-high heat, melt the butter then add the vegetables (onion through fresh mushrooms) and the bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft, about 8 minutes.

4. Add the wine and continue cooking until the wine burns off. Add the flour and cook, stirring, until you can no longer see any white flour in the pot, about 5 minutes. Add the warm stock, the reserved porcini mushroom juice, the reserved porcini mushrooms and the barley. Bring the soup to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cover, until barley is soft and chewy, about 50 minutes.

5. Remove the bay leaf and stir in the cream. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve with seasoned and toasted baguette slices.